It is exciting to be involved in an area that is emergent and
rapidly changing. The field of IT is constantly developing so the
job always involves something interesting and new. Working in this
area gives you the opportunity to stretch your mind since there is
no limit to the possibilities. It also enables those who enjoy the
clinical process to continue participating, just in a different way.
It goes without saying that you should possess excellent IT skills
and should be able to keep up with the fast-paced changes in this
field. It is also important to have some familiarity with the
business world as much of the work deals with budgets, risk and
management. You need to be able to analyse industry trends and
balance these with value creation, leveraging the benefits of
technology to assist with the delivery of health care information.
Much of the work is self-directed so you need to be well-organised,
motivated and able to plan ahead.
Dealing with management and IT professionals may be very different
from your experience in clinical medicine so you need to be
adaptable. Good communication and leadership skills are important,
since the role involves negotiating with doctors and IT
professionals and dealing effectively with conflict between these
groups. You also need to be able to convey business requirements to
software developers to ensure the appropriateness and effectiveness
of the resulting products and services.
There are virtually no predictable daily schedules, which is one of
the appealing aspects of working in this area. You may travel to
another city or country for work commitments. You may hold meetings
with clients or attend internal company meetings, or you may spend
time defining a screen layout for a new application. The day can
start at 6.00am or 11.00am; it might finish at 6.00pm or, when you
are approaching a deadline, it may not end at all. Many of the
activities during the day are organisational and could include
planning, ensuring that priorities are set appropriately, and
overseeing the completion of work activities according to those
priorities.
IT is becoming increasingly important in the field of medicine, and
its role is growing ever-more complex. Health care personnel who are
able to understand technology and the health care industry and who
have business capabilities are highly sought-after. Those who
possess little formal business training but wish to pursue this
career path may face the challenge of learning new skills in
environments that are often pressured.
If you are thinking of moving into this area it is recommended that
you undertake broad clinical training first, to gain insight into
the health system from a doctor’s point of view (which is something
that the vast majority of IT professionals do not possess). It may
be helpful, for example, to have a thorough understanding of
hospital management and the ways in which hospitals function so that
potential problems can be minimised if a new computer system is to
be installed.
One contributor commented that the transition from clinician to IT
professional is not always easy because you have to undertake to
learn all over again, effectively as an apprentice. IT is, however,
seen as a rewarding area in which to work since it is often basic
skills such as diligence and interpersonal capabilities that define
success.
The projections for work in this area are good, providing the IT
industry stays buoyant. There is currently a shortage of doctors
undertaking full time careers in IT, although many doctors maintain
clinical work and devote some of their time to IT activities. It
seems inevitable that the overall demand will continue to grow, both
for clinicians who understand IT and for IT experts who are also
clinicians.
One contributor commented that it is very realistic to take time out
in this discipline and that there is not the same need for CME and
continuing collegial participation as there is in clinical medical
practice. The skills, knowledge and expertise that are required in
IT are all universal so there is scope for employment
internationally.
The regular hours are similar to those of a GP and there is little
or no on-call commitment, so the impact on family life is generally
low. There can, however, be very intensive bursts of activity: you
may work 16 hours each day, seven days a week, for a number of weeks
or months during critical development or implementation periods. The
pattern depends very much on the particular company that you work
for and its growth velocity. There are many opportunities to work
overseas, which may have an impact (positive or negative) on family
circumstances.
One contributor commented that there is much higher career risk than
in the general medical profession and unless you are prepared to
take that risk, financial rewards will be lower than those for
clinical health care delivery. Moving once more into the role of a
relatively junior member of a team can make the transition to
working in this industry difficult.
In order to maintain career options you should aim to keep
up-to-date with both IT and clinical medicine. Although there is no
formal training programme for this career choice, it is worth
undertaking a postgraduate diploma in IT. Many clinicians who are
interested in IT have already undertaken to teach themselves some
basic skills. In this case, a course may effectively function as a
cross-check to ensure the appropriate scope of your knowledge and to
provide some insight into business issues. Diploma, certificate or
Masters courses in Health Informatics are run by a number of
universities and in many cases can be undertaken as distance
learning programmes. Contributors recommend two courses in
particular which are worth investigating:
